Chuck Hagel moved a step closer to confirmation as Defense secretary after the Senate voted Tuesday afternoon 71-27 to end a GOP-led filibuster of his controversial nomination. A final vote is expected no later than Wednesday evening.

Hagel will likely win final confirmation with fewer votes, however, making him the first successful Pentagon chief to attain the post with more than two dissenting votes in decades. Leon Panetta, the outgoing secretary, was confirmed unanimously in 2011.

I agree with your comment on Brennan. As for the Hagel nomination, most of the criticisms I have heard are pathetic when you compare them to his years of of service to this country. His critics have taken comments out of context and called him many things, one being that he is a Jew hater. Was it George Orwell who said, “freedom is being able to tell people what they don’t want to hear”? Hagel seems to have the courage to do that. Over the years, we all say many things — look at the contributions he has made to this country. I entered this comment before only to find the thread had been pulled?????

Exactly what qualifies Hegel for the office of Sec of Defense. That he served in Vietnam? What about his blundering interview: before the Senate Committee. Doesnt matter? More important, is this the man who is to manage the reductions to Dod? Panetta made no attempt to discriminate in his cuts, even though he had a whole year to prepare. No Hegal is walking in with so little knowledge and handle this matter. I guess McCain and others have already decided to cave on the sequester and probably on the continuing resolution.

His contributions are many. If you had been watching C-SPAN hearings on Hagel confirmation this morning, you would have been impressed with the comments of Illinois Senator Dick Durbin on the many ways Hagel has served the country. They were many, and for reasons of wanting to be totally accurate in response to your question, I will comment on one that really stands out. During the Viet Nam War he was sent to a safe post in Europe. At that time, he requested a change so he could participate in the war zone in Viet Nam. There, in the war zone, he received many awards for performance in active duty.

Trotting out the commentary of Dick Durbin is not a very effective strategy. Didn’t he compare U.S. troops to Nazis and more in the not-too-distant past?

It is not unfair to judge a nominee on his past, and Hagel’s service is certainly a big weight on the positive side of the balance. However, the negatives of the past decade or so very much outweigh his service positives. Like McCain and Kerry, whatever honor they once had has been fed to the fire to fuel their political careers. This is not a thing to be celebrated...

Service does not always equate to qualification. McCain served and sacrificed, yet he has voted consistently to reduce our freedoms and against rights spelled out in the Constitution. Hagel served, but his comments, not just occasional stupid comments like Biden’s, show a consistent anti-military, anti strong US and pro enemy ideology. He is not who should be in charge of the US military

Tell us all, there TiaS you lurking liberal, what happened at Abu Grabe from your perspective. And while you are at it, Why don’t you tell us also how much interest you and your lib friends in the media had in Abu Grabe vs how much interest you and your lib friends in the media had in Bengazi and wanted to know what really happened there.

Here, then, is the real professional record of Chuck Hagel, aside from his distinguished military service: Insufficient management experience; limited accomplishments; botched performances; and extreme views.

...........

But the security of the United States is too important for partisan politics. And the American people  including the millions of Americans who serve in our nations Armed Forces  dont really care about partisanship. They dont care if Chuck Hagel is a Republican or if the president who nominated him is a Democrat. They dont care who opposes Chuck Hagel and what tactics they use.

The American people just want to make sure that the right person is in charge of the Department of Defense. And as recent public opinion surveys indicate, the more that Americans  be they Democrats, Republicans, or independents  learn about Sen. Hagel, the more they oppose his nomination, because Sen. Hagels record falls so far short.

22
posted on 02/26/2013 11:33:20 AM PST
by ScaniaBoy
(Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)

“I have heard are pathetic when you compare them to his years of of service to this country”

What service are you talking about. Being drafted with hundreds of thousands of others and going to Vietnam for less than a year? And the minute he got back started badmouthing the war likt all good little liberals do? Or the few years he had as US senator siding with democrats and bashing Bush for eight long years? Hagel is a disgrace as a republican and has the intelligence of a third grader. I would suspect his garbled words and acting punch drunk, to go along with the baggy ass eyes, are from years of snorting that white stuff up his nose, or drinking a fifth of Jack a day. Anyone that thinks this character will be calling the shots at the Def Dept are sadly mistaken. He was put there to bash Israel and kiss Iran’s ass. No other reason. We are the laughing stock of the world with the American-hating Marxist as president, the America-hating traitor Lurch Kerry as Sec of State and now the punch drunk Pvt. Goober Bagel as Sec of Defense. Putin laughs himself to sleep.

I rarely get my news from network programs. I spend most of my time reading newspapers from all over the world on my computer. I have no lib friends in liberal media. As far as Bengazi — Hagel had nothing to do with that. Maybe Brennan could enlighten you on that subject. I might ask, did you see any of the photos from Abu Ghraib? I didn’t see any on TV, they were available on the internet for anyone who was interested.

You didn’t answer the question and like libs the world over, you deflected my question. Hagel had nothing to do with Bengazi, but you attempted to equate Abu Grabe to the Nazi camps, a typical lib move. Thus my question, tell me what happened at Abu Grabe from your perspective. And, you don’t need to get your news from the media, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t a lib or one of those who go to conservative sites and try to act intelligent with sometimes vague and other times inuendo questions.

You got a lot of history to look at man. That war was deemed illegal by Robert Mc Namra, Secretary of Defense, in charge of the Viet Nam war. There has also been an admission that the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was a fabrication to promote the war. As far as bashing Bush, articles of impeachment were brought against him by the US Congress and charged him with misleading the country into the Iraq War. There are many countries waiting to charge, Bush, with war crimes, for which there are no statutes of limitations. When I said Hagel’s service to the country was outstanding, that did not mean that his war service was his only means of serving the American people

I have the photos of Abu Ghraib in front of my face and I am at a loss of words to describe them. You too, can search the internet and find the pictures — I’m sure some of them are still out there. These are the ones we’ve seen . . . .

Hagel is a tongue-tied joke. Anyone that saw his performance three ago before Congress can see the aint the brightest bulb in the chandelier. He has never any position in Congress that would remotely qualify him for Sec of Def. He has never been on the Armed Services Committee. No qualifications whatsover for the job. He was chosen by the dear leader because he was against the war in Iraq and was a consistently Bush basher.

Lastly, why would a liberal like yourself want to discuss a liberal’s (Hagel’s) qualifications for Sec of Def? Do you think anyone will agree with you that Hagel is the right man for the job? Why did you join Free Republic? You will get no sympathy here for Obama and his gang of marxists (Hagel included) that want to destroy the country.

Again, only half truths. Two congressmen, both far left congressmen: Kucinich and Wexler introduced articles of impeachment which through standard procedures were referred to the judiciary committee where they died. To say that articles of impeachment were brought against Bush is technically correct, but saying that articles of impeachment were brought against Bush by the US Congress is a total misrepresentation as only two leftist congressmen introduced them. Apparently though you may read a lot in worldwide newspapers etc on your computer, either you do not comprehend what you read or intentionally misrepresent what you read. If you can’t be intellectually honest, I’m not going to waste any more of my time on an obvious lib plant.

Oh brother...we knew this is going to happen....so now that they spent Tuesday on this, they are going to spend Wednesday voting for Hagel. Why couldn’t they do both today? I don’t like it but if it was going to happen just get it overwith. They could spend Wednesday going over budget things. These guys have zero priorities!!!

What about his blundering interview: before the Senate Committee. Doesnt matter? More important, is this the man who is to manage the reductions to Dod? Panetta made no attempt to discriminate in his cuts, even though he had a whole year to prepare. No Hegal is walking in with so little knowledge and handle this matter

There must have been some kind of vote because Mr. Ryan, Mitt Romney’s running mate for president was one of the Republicans who voted against it when a vote was taken. That was the reason I chose not to vote for Mr. Romney.

“””I dont want Dems to play political games and deny the next Republican president his choice of Cabinet officials, and we shouldnt countenance the GOP doing that today. Its a bad precedent to set.””

Are you kidding or do you actually think a republican will ever get elected to President again?

Yes, indeed, he was nominated by the President but this nomination must be confirmed by the Senate, and the Republicans had the POWER to prevent this nomination from being confirmed. They chose not to. Yes, elections have consequences. Too many Republicans showed themselves unworthy of out support. Too many voted to let the guy advance to the office simply out of personal friendship, or because they share his opinions, or maybe out of fear for their own re-election. They maybe want, desperately, to be IN, and therefore they do what they have to to stay IN.

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